Dealing with malicious code such as viruses and Trojan horses is a constant concern for software developers. Hackers are becoming faster at taking advantage of a vulnerability within an application as soon as the vulnerability becomes known. Malicious code that takes advantage of a known vulnerability on the same day that the vulnerability becomes generally known is referred to as a zero day exploit. To date, there are very few solutions that effectively deal with zero day exploits.
Because of the speed with which the malicious code can be circulated in a zero day exploit, developers do not have enough time to implement a patch or other solution to deal with the vulnerability. Frequently, the only solution available is to reduce the potential for opening malicious code by encouraging users to follow security best practices such as turning off unneeded services, keeping patch levels up to date, and avoid opening attachments that are from unknown sources or are unexpected. However, these precautions are not always effective in preventing malicious code from circulating and being executed during a zero day exploit.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that embodiments of the present invention have been made. Also, although relatively specific problems have been discussed, it should be understood that embodiments of the present invention should not be limited to solving the specific problems identified in the background.